Cigarette wrappers



July 12, 1960 K H. H. s'roRcH CIGARETTE WRAPPERS Filed Sept. 27. 1954 Nlawn/WSN VH1 Q3 LL.

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This inventiongzrelatesfto wrappersior cigarettes and, moreparticularly, to novel wrappersfor cigaggettes comprising anon-cellulosic material.

Cigarettes, as -is'wellknownlfusually are prepared from tabacco-.shredsin rod-like fQrtu-.z Surounddf Q11: @F.lsed rf immettereDurinszthe'fsmgkinasta sigarette; thafbumingtipiobtains;a.temperatureaverasinssIrisa as, and the combustion temperature-Mifflincigarette.;

combustion zone thereof attains an average as high'as 680 C. In studiesinvolving the charring of materials` such as cellulose which containacarbonyl group, it has been found that the materials are converted 4tochars closely resembling coal. This is illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2,which show infrared spectra of chars obtained by the pyrolysis ofcellulosic material-and of the anthraxylon or the main constituent ofcoal. The similarity of the spectra of coal and of chars obtained fromthe pyrolysis of cellulosic material shows that the charring of thecellulose results in polycyclicl structures which yieldpolygetatureranses and .under p trie-likes Other: non-.cellulosicpolymers'capable of being .flmed inl@ films on sheets; and thusksuitable for the. production; Yof, Lthe cigarettev wrappers will v be.apparent. to those-skilled inthe art.A Obviously, toxic groupsor groupscapable of forming toxicderivatives. should/.not be employed ,intheproduction ofthe wrappers. As previously indicated, carbonylgroups-must' notl be/present inasmuch as six-memberedvcarbon-ring-structures will beformed duringfpyrolysisof thematerial..VOther groups that will readily 'be-apparent andfshouldbeomitted are.`such as the halogens and groups that are potentially carbonyl forming-aAs Iis wellknowng polyethylene polymers-are..odor1ess,

lta.,s teless..rise-to c andtransparent Thesepglymers mayheisrmsd-byu@plurality oftdierent- .methods` 5 Perfexample, thepolyethylene'pplymermay be. prepared' by polym,arising ethylene in .thegaseous 4phase .bycontacting same in the presence oflu afcatalystnoververy wide=tem perffsqu tlnh. If.;desired,.,the,ethylene maybe con-;t-.agtedf by@ .moving catalyst, orfpassed through. a-ixedr iluid bed ofthe catalyst. Other methor'immaysalsobe employed for forming thepolyethylene polymer as7 for` example,'by carrying out thepolymerization in an nuclear aromatic hydrocarbons upon furtherpyrolysis.

Inasmuch as cellulose upon charring kresults in vpolynuclear structureswhich decompose to producecompounds such as phenanthrene, anthracene,and other derivatives, the use of cellulosic materials tomanufacturecigarette paper wrappers introduces a source of carcinogenic compoundsinto the cigarette smoke.

After the stalks and stems have been removed from the tobacco during theprocessing of the tobacco for the formation of cigarettes, substantiallyall of the cellulosic materials have been removed therefrom. Thus, whencigarette paper wrappers consisting of cellulosic materials are employedin the manufacture of the cigarette, the greater percentage ofthevcellulosic material present in the total cigarette resides in thewrapper. The wrapper in this instance may constitute as much as 80% ofthe total cellulosic material present in the cigarette. At thetemperatures obtained during the burning of the cigarette, thecellulosic material forms chars which are a source of carcinogeniccompounds. While it has been shown that extended periods averaging aslong as to 35 years are often required for the production of certaintypes of carcinoma to be developed as a result of cigarette smoking,

it is nevertheless desirable to remove any known source v ofcarcinogenic compounds from cigarettes.

It has been determined that carbohydrates containing a carbonyl groupsuch as glucose or cellulose will yield upon pyrolysis six-memberedcarbon-ring structures in the residue as a result of oxidation. Thewrappers to be employed in accordance with the present invention arederived from non-cellulosic materials,V preferably noncellulosicmaterial free of carbonyl groups. It is further desi-red that thewrappers to be employed consist of a polymer of a non-cellulosicmaterial comprising only carbon and hydrogen atoms and free of carbonylgroups. Such materials that may be used are, for example, polyethylene,polystyrene, styrene-butadiene copolymers and aqueous medium in thepresence of a peroxide catalyst and at extremely high pressures.Polyethylene polymers ,-thus formed may then be treated by methods wellknown inthe art for the production of films or sheets suitable for useas wrappers in the production of cigarettes.

Other` polymers of non-cellulosic materials that may also be employedare such as styrene-butadiene copolymers. These polymers are usuallyprepared by the emulsion polymerization of the monomers in the presenceof a catalyst and suitable wetting agents. The copolymers thus Vformedmay then be treated or compounded, as is well known, for the productionof films or sheets suitable for the preparation of the cigaretteWrappers. f Any other non-cellulosic material and preferably the polymerof any non-cellulosic material containing carbon and hydrogen atoms andfree of carbonyl groups that may be apparent, in View ofthe teaching ofmy invention, may also be employed. Obviously, the material to beemployed for the preparation of the cigarette wrappers must becapable offorming films. Since non-cellulosic materials are utilized in thepreparation of cigarette wrappers in accordance With the presentinvention, a known source of carcinogenic compounds is thus removed fromthe cigarette. VInasmuch as no carbohydrates containing carbonylrgroupsare present in the cigarette wrappers of my invention, condensedpolycyclic structures will not be formed from the wrapper. The pyrolysisproduct of the Wrapper will be free from tarry vapors, more nearlyodorless and tasteless and will enhance the odor and The nature of theinvention will be more fully ap parent by reference to the drawingcomparing the ino material is made up of essentially the same type ofin-A frared absorbing chemical groups as are in the anthraxylon, whichis a main constituent of coal. For example, the band near 3 microns isindicative of compounds containing the OH group and the band near 6.25

microns is indicative of conjugated or aromatic C compounds.

3 As produced, the lms or sheets of the polymers of the non-cellulosicmaterials containing carbon and hydrogen atoms and free of carbonylgroups are generally transparent. If desired, nontoxic colorants or dyesmay be introduced into the Wrappers to produce the conventionallyacceptedwlzlite color of Ythe cellulosic cigarette wrappers presentlyemployed in the industry. Other -compounds may also be introduced intothe cigarette wrappers of the present invention, if desired, in order toobtain Vthe desired porosity and the like of the Wrappers. In any event,the cellulosic paper Wrappers previously employed -for the production ofcigarettes will be replaced by my invention with a non-cellulosicwrapper.

I claim: Y

1. As a wrapper for a cigarette, a non-cellulosic material comprisinghydrogen and carbon atoms and free of carbonyl groups.

2. As a Wrapper for a cigarette, a polymer of a noncellulosic materialfree of carbonyl groups. p

3. As a wrapper for a cigarette, a polymer of a Vnoncellulosic materialcomprising hydrogenY and carbon atoms andfree of carbonyl groups. p

4. A wrapper for a cigarette comprising polyethylene and being freerofcarbonyl groups.

5. A smoking article comprising tobacco and a Wrapper therefor, saidwrapper being a non-cellulosicmaterial comprising hydrogen and carbonatoms and free of carbonyl groups.

6. A smoking article comprising tobacco and a wrapper therefor, saidwrapper being a polymer of noncellulosic material free of carbonylgroups.

7. A smoking article comprising tobacco and a Wrapper therefor, sai-dWrapperbeing a polymer of a noncellulosic material comprising hydrogenand carbon atoms and free of carbonyl groups.

8. A smoking article comprising tobacco and a Wrapper therefor, saidwrapper comprising polyethylene and being free of carbonyl groups.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHERREFERENCES Y Frankenburg: Chemical Changes in the Harvested I obaccoLeaf, as included in vol 10, page 396 of fAdvances in Enzymology,published 1950, by Iinterscience Publishers Inc., New York, N.Y.

1. AS A WRAPPER FOR A CIGARETTE, A NON-CELLULOSIC MATERIAL COMPRISINGHYDROGEN AND CARBON ATOMS AND FREE OF CARBONYL GROUPS.